High ideals

Princes William and Harry, like their parents, have chosen to support charities that are close to their hearts. Patrick Barkham is given a rare invitation to hear how they are forging links between the organisations

Prince William, patron of Centrepoint and Mountain Rescue in England and Wales, with a group of homeless young people on a fell walk in Cumbria. Photograph: John Giles/PA Wire John Giles/PA Wire/Press Association Images

The heir to the heir to the throne is a fairly informal chairman. "Sorry that Harry is not here – he's flying, but he's just not very good, so he has to do more than me," Prince William jokes to the 20 charities and organisations gathered in a grand study inside St James's Palace.

The elder prince is flying solo at the biannual meeting of the Princes' Charities Forum, a group set up several years ago after William and Harry decided to see if the charities they support could also help each other. Twice a year, the princes coax their charities to discuss their plans and devise new ideas to work together over tea and biscuits (Duchy Originals, naturally).

What unfolds – usually in private – has already created some surprising charitable collaborations. In the longer term, these meetings may help shape the reign of the future King William.

At first glance, the charities and organisations sitting around the table appear far too disparate to work together. They are an idiosyncratic mix of the princes' passions – the Football Association and the Welsh Rugby Union – and charities connected to friends or family, such as the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, which is building state primary schools in Uganda in memory of a schoolfriend of Harry's who died in a car accident. There are also charities that represent a continuation of their mother's work, such as William's continuing support for the homelessness charity, Centrepoint.

According to the princes' private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, they are focusing on three themes in their charity work: young people, sustainable development, and supporting injured soldiers. Representatives from the armed forces also attend the meeting to see how they can support the charities.

Prince William is fired up after meeting soldiers injured in Afghanistan when he made a private visit to Selly Oak hospital, Birmingham. He wonders if some wounded veterans could work with charities to provide role models for young people, as well as aiding their own rehabilitation. One of the princes' charities, Skill Force, which provides training and teaching opportunities for injured and veteran service personnel, could play a role. "If these people can't go back to their unit, it's giving them another avenue to help and inspire people," the prince says.

The most recent example of what William calls "cross-pollination" was a partnership between Centrepoint and Mountain Rescue England and Wales. In July, the prince scaled Helvellyn, England's third highest mountain, with young people from Centrepoint and Mountain Rescue volunteers. He hopes he makes "a tiny difference" to young people such as Jonny Glendinning, a formerly homeless 18-year-old. "People see him for the fact he's got 19 piercings, but he's nothing like he looks. It's people like that I want to relate to," the prince says. "They have fantastic characters and they just need opportunity and hope and confidence."

Mountain Rescue's chairman, David Allan, says the collaboration gave a morale boost to his volunteers and encouraged his organisation to be less inward-looking. For Seyi Obakin, chief executive of Centrepoint, the climb helped his young people to "build their confidence and self-esteem, confront their fears, and believe that they can do anything. It was very, very powerful."

At 27, William may no longer be down with the kids, but his informality – particularly in private – is popular with young people. "He has an easy manner, which is not officious," Obakin says. "The other thing is that he remembers, and that just blows the young people's minds away. They say, 'He met me three months ago and he remembers the conversation I had with him.' That's incredibly powerful because he is a person of authority who takes an interest in them."

Centrepoint is finding the forum particularly productive. During the tea break, Obakin discusses plans with the army to borrow its instructors to help with training for its sponsored abseil down the Centre Point Tower in central London. The army's backing, Obakin says, has already given the plans credibility and has helped to persuade the owner of the building to let them try to do it.

Family influences

It is often forgotten that their father's charitable work – particularly the Prince's Trust – is as influential over the princes' direction as their mother's example. "What I try to do is take the best bits of my mother's charitable work and the best bits of my father's charitable work and do them both together," William says. "I'm not in their league, but I'm warming up, hopefully, and I'm trying to do what I can." Asked about other sources of inspiration, he unhesitatingly plumps for another family member. "My grandmother as well," he says. "How she's gone about things and how she cares about areas of life and people is particularly important."

William has spoken of not wanting to be "an ornament" in his princely duties. While he admits that "there is a place" for shaking hands on official visits, the forum, he says, "is an example of where I want to be more involved", rather than just "turning up and opening things".